New high index mineral or plastic materials are continuously being developed. Finished lenses, though premium cosmetics, are industrially produced to cater only to medium to low correction. People with high myopia require strong correcting lenses with a short radius of curvature and thick edges, which are difficult or impossible to fit in some eyeglass frames, thus restricting the selection of frames for nearsighted people. In addition, heavy eyeglasses are less comfortable and attractive. Appearance is further penalized by the “coke bottle” effect which is visible at the periphery of the eyeglasses. The effect is due to the reflections of the edging that the finished and fit lens causes to converge within, depending on the edge thickness.
In order to reduce the weight and thickness at the lens edges, the only method adopted has been that of reducing the size of the actual lens—that is the “lenticular” portion in which the prescribed power is provided. The remainder of the lens, the carrier, provides no refractive correction but gives dimension to the lens for mounting. These are the so called “lenticular lenses”. The achieved reduction in weight and edge thickness is inversely proportional to the size of the lenticular portion of the lens. However, though lighter and thinner, lenticular lenses remain cosmetically unattractive because the central portion, which makes the eyes look fairly smaller, is clearly discernible within each ring of the eyeglasses, as is the portion joining it to the carrier. This cosmetic dilemma has not been solved even by the so called “joint lenticular lenses” which feature a neutral or convex carrier and a round-shaped junction between the lenticular portion and the carrier. As a result of the round-shaped junction, the wide surface of the carrier takes on a high plus power in sharp contrast to the high minus power of the center. Hence, a “tunnel effect” is produced which badly distorts the portion of the face which is covered with the lens. Lastly, the diameter of the actual optic area is insufficient to ensure viewing in all the natural directions of the gaze and forces the wearer to unnatural head postures in order to compensate for the limited freedom of movement of their eyes.